Electric iron



June 20, 1933. KUHN r AL 1,915,131

ELECTRIC IRON Filed Opt. 19, 1931,

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, MW ALMQM wm 5 4 33 ATTORNEYS INVENTORS 1 Patented June 1933 umreoSTATES PATENT OFF [CE imam: iron, or nnrnorr, am) LAURENCE n. 'rnomls,or ammonia, moment, assronons 'ro mmucm mnc'rarcar. mum commune ornmaorr. MICHIGAN,

A CORPORATION, OI MICHIGAN ELECTRIC IRON Application in October 19,1931. Serial no seam.

been experienced in the manufacture of- -laundry irons owing to the factthat certain purchasers insistedupon an iron equipped with a heel standcapable of supportlng the iron in. an upright position when not 1n use,

while other purchasers preferred an iron without a heel stand.Accordingly, in order turershave considered it necessary and one withoutthe heel stand. 120

teriall manu acture of the irons but appreciab y reto secure theapproval of both of the aforesaid groups of purchasers, certainmanufacduce two different seriesof irons one with e manufacture of twodifierent types of irons is obviously objectionablenot onl since itmaincreases the cost of andlin and tards production thereo 1 The presentinvention contemplates elimi-' nating the fore oing objections as wellas satisfying both t e aforesaid groups of'pur chasers by. providing aheel stand capable of bein readily attached to and removed from t e ironin an exceedingly simple manner within theskill of any user; The

above. arrangement obviously permits :manufacturin the iron and heelstand separately and in a dition ofiers the possibility of selling theheel stand as an attachment for the iron. w Another object of. thisinventlon is to rovide an arrangement of the type s cified' abovewherein the heel stand is hel in as sembled relation with the ironbyfastening means which inaddition to performing the above operatlon,also functions to secure theinsulator blocks and easing therefor as aunit to the iron. I

A further advantageous feature ofthisinnection with the a'cco to pro;

vention resides in the provision of a heel stand which is extremelylight in construction so as not to appreciably add to the weight of theiron when in assembled relation therewith.

A stillfurther ob'ect of this invention consists in extendin t 0electrical cord or conductor through t e insulator block casing in sucha manner that the same will not interfere with supporting-the iro in anupright position by the heel stand.

be made more apparent as proceeds,

The foregoing as well as other objects will this description especiallywhen considered in conpanying drawing, wliereln: f 1

igure 1 is a ra entar ers ective view of an electrically l ieated la ndiy iron equipped with a heel stand constructed and secured in place inaccordance withthe present Invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the iron showing the samesupported in its upri ht position by the heel plate;

igure 3 is a fragmentary sectional side elevational view of the ironshown 'in Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 1 is a fragmentar sectional view taken substantially on the hue4--4 of Figure 2.

For the purpose of illustration we have shown our invention as employedupon an electric laundry iron of the type ing plate 10,'a pressure theplate 10 and a shown in.

the-drawing having'a base or heat distributplate 11 secured to 80 eatingelement 12 disposed between adjacent faces of the two aforesaid-plates.As is usually the case in irons of the type illustrated herein, theoperation of the heating element 12 is accurately controlled by meansof'a thermostatic switc 13 located in close roximity to the base lateThe heating element 12; and thermostat 13 are protected '10 ,forreceiving t e heati mainly there om.

and boncealed by means of a 0',

Jill

nected to a source of electric energy.

removable cover 14 having side and end walls seated upon the base plateand'secured in position thereon by means of a single fastener element15.The handle 16 may be of the conventional design having front and rearframe members 17 and 18, respectively, projecting upwardly from thecover and having the upper ends thereof secured in any suitable mannerto the adjacent ends of a suitable non-metallic grip 19.

Electric energy is supplied to the heating element 12 through thethermostatic switch by means of a pair of terminal cont-act elements 20and 21 having the lower ends electrically connected to opposite sides ofthe circuit extending through the heating element and switch and havingthe upper ends extending through an elongated opening 22 formed in thecover 14 in rear of the handle .16. The upper portions of the terminalmembers extending through the cover are connected to suitable flexibleelectrical conductors which in turn are adapted to be (@1111- econnecting portions of the conductors and terminal contact members areprotected and insulated from each other by means of an insulator block23 formed of a pair of separable sections 24 and 25. As will be'observedfrom Figure 3, the sections 24 and 25 c0- operate with each other andwith a second insulator block 26 closing the opening 22 in the cover toconceal the electrical connections aforesaid and insulate the same frommetallic contact with the remaining parts of the iron.

The insulator block 23 is in turn concealed by means of a metallichousing 27 having the marginal edges thereof engaging the portions ofthe cover surrounding the elongated opening 22 therethrough and havingan opening 28 in the upper wall thereof to provide for the passage ofthe flexible conductors therethrough. The sections 24 and 25 of theinsulator block 23 are clamped in assembled relation with each otherwithin the housing 27 and the latter is secured to the iron by means ofa single fastener element designated generally herein by the referencecharacter 29. The fastener element 29 comprises a bolt 30 having a head31 engaging the inner surface of the handle frame member 18 and having athreaded shank 32 extending through alined openings formed in the handleframe section 18, opposite front and rear walls of the housing 27 andinsulator block sections 24 and 25. The threaded shank portion 32 of thebolt is of such length as -to extend through all of the aforesaid partsand to project a. substantial distance rear wardly from the rear wall ofthe housing 27 for receiving a suitable clamping nut 33. The abovearrangement is such that by merely removing the nut 33 from the rear endof the bolt, the latter may be removed from engagement with the housing27 and sections 24 and 25 of the block, with the result that theaforesaid parts may be disassembled exposin the electrical connectionbetween the flexible conductors and terminal contact members.

As previously stated, it is one of the principal objects of thisinvention to provide a removable heel stand for the iron operable whenin assembled relation therewith to support the same in an uprightposition. The heel stand provided herein is designated generally in theseveral views by the reference character 34 and as will be presentlydescribed, is readily removably attached to the rear end of the iron ina position to'permit supporting the iron in the position shown in Figure2 when the same is not in use.

The heel stand 34 is preferably of one piece construction comprising asubstantially U-shaped portion 35 extending rearwardly from the rear endwall of the cover at substantially right angles thereto in spacedrelation to the base plate 10 of the iron. The rear end or base of theU-shaped portion 35 terminates in a forwardly and upwardly extendingportion 36 having the forward end thereofadapted to abut the adjacentsurface of the end wall of the cover 14. The rear connecting ends of theportions 35 and 36 extend for substantially the full width of the ironso as to provide an ample support for the latterwhen in its uprightposition and the metal connecting the said portions is preferably curvedas indicated in the several views so that there will be no danger of thesame marring the surface of the support when in engagement therewith. Inthe interest of reducing the weightof the heel stand to the minimum, thesame may be formed from sheet metal and the portion 36 may be providedwith a transversely extending opening 37 therethrough. ,Formed inte--gral with and extending upwardly from the forward edge of the portion 36is a suitable finger 38 terminating at the upper edge there of in areturnbent curved portion 39 adaptedto cooperate with the rear ends ofthe portions 35 and 36 to supportthe iron in the position 7 shown inFigure 2. The finger 38 is formed on the portion 36 intermediate theside edges thereof and assumes a position adjacent the rear wall of thehousing 27 opposite the rear handle frame portion 18 when the stand isin assembled relation with the iron.

The heel stand above described is positioned upon the rear wall of thecover 14 by means of a pair of cooperating engaging shoulders formed onthe legs of the U-shaped portions 35 and the rear wall aforesaid of thecover.

In detail, the front marginal edges of the legs of the U-shaped portion35 are provided with ears 40 adapted to extend through correspond ingopenings 41 in the rear wall of the cover. As will be observed fromFigure 3, the cars 40 are curved downwardly sufiiciently to prevent "anytendency for the sameto become accidentally disengaged from the openings41 when the stand is secured in place on the iron. The stand 34 ispositively and readily detachably secured in place by means of thefastener element 29 hereinbefore set forth. As shown particularly inFigure 3, the length of the fastener element is so determined that therear end thereof extends through a suitable opening formed in the finger38 prior to receiving the nut 33, with the result that the latter, inaddition to clamping the various parts of the iron hereinbeforeenumerated, also serves to secure the heel stand in place.

With the construction as previously de- "ed to be threaded upon theouter end of said shank for clampin the parts through which saidthreaded shani In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

LAURENCE H. THOMAS.

scribed, it will be apparent that the heel stand, in addition to beingrelativel in weight and inexpensive. to manut acture, may be readilyremoved from or attached to the heater by merely manipulating the nut 33on the bolt 30. For example, assuming that the heel stand is assembledrelation with the iron and it is desired to remove the same, the nut 33is merely disengaged from the bolt permitting the stand to in efiectpivot about the ears and thereby disenga the finger 38 from the end ofthe bolt 30. Tfi: ears 40 may then be removed from the slots 41 in thecover and the nut 33 replaced upon the end of the bolt 30 whereupon theiron is in condition for use without the heel stand. On the other hand,in the event it is desired to assemble the heel stand with the iron, the

nut 33 is merely removed from the bolt and the ears 40 engaged withinthe openings 41 in the rear wall of the cover whereupon the stand isivoted about the ears to extend the free en of the bolt within theopening formed in the finger after which the nut may be reassembled withthe bolt to secure the stand in position. Thus, it will be seen that thestand may be removed from or assembled with the iron without interferingwith the position of any of the remaining parts thereof. I 0

Since, as previously stated, the finger 38 assumes a central position inrear of the iron,

the opening 28 in the casing 27 through which the conductors'extend isoffset relative to the center of the housing so as to permittheconductors to extend at an angle from the hens-- light ing. As willbe observed from Figure 1, the

foregoing arrangement is such as to provide for locating the flexibleconductor in spaced relation to. the finger 38- and thereby min- -im1zeany tendency for the conductors to obstruct tilting of the iron to theposition 1 shown in Figure g I a What we claim as our invention 1s: 'IAn electric iron, having a cover, terminal contact elements.p'ro'ecting' through the cover, a sectional insu ator'block. enclosingthe projecting portions of the contact elements, a housing enclosingsaid block, a heel stand for supporting the iron in a substantiallyupright position, a fastener element extends in assembledrelation with-the iron.

